The English Project
by Cupid's Bride
Summary: Miley hated Jake... and until she got to know him. Warning: alternate universe.
1. Pride and Prejudice

Disclaimer: Listen up, I'm just gonna say this once: I don't own Hannah Montana. OKAY?! 

AN: I thought I could write chapter five of Message Delivered, but it's giving me trouble. Meanwhile, this idea wants to get out of my head and be known, so please forgive me. Haha. Love ya, peeps! Thanks to AlwaysxAddicted for the idea. Ha ha. Mari – you really give me the craziest ideas. But thank you. Now upload "We're Only Friends" and I'll try to finish up chapter five of Message Delivered.

Warning: Spoilers only up to A New Kid in School. I'm re-writing More Than A Zombie To Me, and will probably be taking a different approach for Good Golly Miss Dolly and the two (or more) episodes after it. OUT-OF-CHARACTERNESS ABOUND!!!

Summary: Miley hated Jake... until she got to know him. But with her being in denial, and having too much pride; how on earth would they get together? Out of character present.

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**The English Project:  
**_Pride and Prejudice_

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Chapter One: The Assignment

* * *

Miley and Lilly were in the school bathroom before first period. The latter was fixing her hair, and the former was just staring into space.

Miley Stewart was annoyed. She was not looking to another school day with Jake Ryan. He was obnoxious and egocentric. She can't believe how everybody in this school only saw his face and immediately scrammed to fall over him – she couldn't believe she almost revealed her secret a week ago just because she was jealous about how Jake got the star treatment!

She was really glad she didn't go through with it and actually got away without being found out! That reporter was incredibly gullible and stupid. No wonder she only got employed by the gossip showbiz programs and papers rather than by CNN and other REAL news networks and newspapers. What a nincompoop!

Speaking of nincompoops, Jake Ryan was the biggest idiot she had ever seen. And she can't believe how people easily fell for his act and how cool they thought he was. And she didn't know how he reveled in the attention.

Jake Ryan was SICKENING. He was nothing but a pretty face. Underneath all that glitz… he was nothing but an attention-starved boy who was lucky enough to get handpicked to play a zombie slayer in a TV show.

But still… he can be really charming and nice. She remembered when he wanted to apologize to her. Maybe she'll tell him to wear dorky glasses like the one Lilly wears when she runs out of contacts. And of course, maybe send him a wig to wear too, or different clothes. That should throw some people off his scent.

Of course… that is if she cared!

"Hey, you ok?" Lilly's voice cut into her musings.

"Oh I'm fine – just thinking."

"So, I was thinking – one behind and one over!"

Miley took a look. "Sure. Would you like a billboard sign with that as well? 'Hi, I'm trying too hard; please look at me!'"

"All right! No ears!" Lilly quickly fixed it. "So, what were you thinking about? 'Cause I was thinking about how I could get nervous and distracted when Jake says hi, you know? I can't believe that he goes to our school, it's really cool!"

Miley glared. "Oh I was just thinking about how I could make myself temporarily deaf because of how my best friend keeps mouthing about that guy. Seriously, he's just an ego maniac who relishes the attention everybody gives him in this school. Besides, he's not that good of an actor."

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Oh please! Who are you to talk? You don't know the first thing about acting!"

"What are you talking about? I act like…" Miley quickly checked the bathroom for any unwelcome ears. "… like I'm not Hannah Montana every day. I act like Oliver's jokes are funny. And yesterday? I acted like I liked that sweater you wore!"

"What?"

"Just kidding! See? I was acting!" Then after a pause Miley asked, "Or was I?"

"Ooooh, you are good. But really - come on! Deep down, you soooo like Jake."

"No, I don't! How can you say that?"

"Because every time his name comes up, you act like you can't stand him."

"That is not acting!"

"Or is it?"

"No!"

Lilly shrugged. "Well then you're the only girl at school who doesn't have a crush on him."

"Oh please! Don't ever put his name and mine with the word crush in the same sentence again! Besides, I think the others should be able to see through his phony little act by now…"

But apparently that wasn't the case. They walked out of the restrooms and towards Oliver's locker when they saw a crowd of girls surrounding Jake.

Miley crossed her arms at the spectacle with apparent disbelief and aversion. Lilly ogled and sighed dreamily, "I think you're wrong, Miles."

Miley rolled her eyes and averted her sights from the scene. "And parents wonder why their kids need higher scores for their SAT's to get into a good college." She quickly moved toward Lilly's locker and opened it.

She was still locker-less since Tony revamped Jake's. She itched to punch both parties in the face… and not those pansy little punches she and Lilly gave Oliver from time to time. Since she was locker-less, she was sharing lockers with Lilly, Oliver and Becca. Lilly had her gym clothes and toiletries, and science book. Oliver had her history, drama and Spanish books. Becca had her English books (vocabulary and literature) and music folder for choir. On the days her dad packed lunch for her, she would put it in Lilly's. She didn't want to stink up Becca's locker, and she didn't trust Oliver with it.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. But it was still a pain. Especially since occasionally, Jake the Ego Maniac would use Becca's locker mirror every time Miley was there and he was passing by. And then he would just smile at her and tease her through the mirror. It was as if he lived to annoy her. Just thinking about it made her fists clench.

BOOM! SPLAT!

Miley said, "Sweet niblets!"

She had gotten completely mad at the thought of Jake… and completely forgot that she was holding a Ziploc bag that contained an egg salad sandwich her dad made her for lunch.

Then a really annoying voice said, "Wow, Miley!" She turned to face Jake Ryan who continued to smile that annoying grin of his a couple of steps away from her. "If I had known that having girls around me would make you so jealous, I'd have dismissed them all. You know you're my number one."

"Awwww," Miley smiled. "You're so sweet, Jake." She moved closer to him and he moved closer as well, much to the dismay of onlookers.

Jake smirked. "Well, naturally!" He just reached her within hugging distance when she closed Lilly's locker without looking and walked away.

"But don't confuse me with your groupies." She said as she disappeared through the doors of the cafeteria. She threw the Ziploc bag in the first trash can she saw.

"Oh my God!" Lilly screamed as she ran after Miley, who made a beeline for the pizza line, which was empty. She started saying stuff in gibberish, which Miley didn't pay attention to.

Ahh, they were serving broccoli pizza today. "Hi, a slice of the cheese pizza please?" Miley ignored Lilly who was patiently waiting for a response as she got her own lunch.

Miley grabbed an apple, a water bottle, a Snapple Peach, silverware and napkins then handed the lunch lady her lunch card. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear," the lunch lady said. She handed the card back to Miley, who turned to Lilly.

She said, "Okay. What were you saying?"

"How could you do that?"

"Simple: quite easily."

"There's no normal girl who would do that to Jake Ryan."

"Lilly, did you forget that I'm not a normal girl?"

"When you're Miley – you're supposed to be one!"

They went towards their table where Becca and Oliver were sitting already.

"Hey!" Miley and Lilly said as they sat down.

Becca smiled. "So, Miley, did you really leave Jake Ryan hanging by Lilly's locker before he could kiss you?"

Miley made a face. "Eww. No. Whatever you heard, that's not true."

"What happened?"

Miley and Lilly exchanged a look. The latter told the story.

"Wow." Becca said. "I don't know how you do it, Miley. You're like, the only girl who's single at school who doesn't like him."

"Oh, please. He has enough girls and boys, teachers… he has enough people in this school to fall over him. I refuse to be added to that statistic."

Immediately after that statement, Jake came in the cafeteria with a throng of girls and boys and Mr. Corelli behind him.

"I think I've lost my appetite." She just took two bites out of her pizza.

Oliver suddenly said, "OH!"

They turned to him. "What?"

"Did you guys hear? Mr. Aaron is going to give a two-person project in English class."

Lilly clapped her hands, "Yeah! I heard about that!"

Miley and Becca exchanged looks. "Okay, so what's so exciting about it?"

Oliver said, "Well, Amber and Ashley cried because they don't have Jake in their English class… and it's supposed to be a boy-and-girl joint project."

Miley scoffed at this. "Big whoop. Why is it that everybody can't function normally because of that guy? I mean, look!" She pointed out how Jake was milking everyone's attention… again. "It's disgusting!"

Lilly said, "Oh, come on! You're telling me that if Jake Ryan asked you out, you wouldn't say yes?"

"Yes."

"Yes, you'd say no? Or yes, you'd say yes?"

"No! Yes, I'd say no!"

Lilly's, Becca's and Oliver's faces scrunched in confusion.

They ate in silence after that.

Miley and Becca headed to the latter's locker and got their books. "So what do you think this project's going to be about, Miley?"

"To be honest I think whatever it is, is going to be a warm up to writing a term paper. So Mr. A will probably ask the group to read a really difficult book and research it then write a fifteen-page or so essay with two hundred note cards, a work cited page and all those things."

"Well, I can't wait. I hope that Oliver and I get to work on this; he's pretty good in English."

They joined up with Oliver who put his arm around Becca and Lilly who quickly slipped a note in Miley's hand. She told her to open it later. They got to room 123, and quickly sat in their seats where they took their binders out.

Mr. Aaron was the only teacher who didn't fall over Jake. He was not strict or stern, but he was less lenient than the rest of the teachers at Seaview. He believed that education was really important and did not like everybody to waste time. As such, he writes a "Do Now" on the board which must be finished as soon as possible.

Seconds later, they could hear Jake say good-bye to his fans and sit down behind Miley then started to do what the writing on the board asked him to.

Even he paid careful attention in this class.

"Do Now: Answer the question; what does Juliet mean when she says 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' in Act II, scene ii?"

The bell rang and Mr. Aaron clapped his hands. "Okay, before I move onto the Do Now, I want you all to stand up. I taped something on your seats face down so please – extract them but don't look at them yet. When you finish, don't sit down."

They all did as they were told and finally saw a flimsy, translucent playing card in the middle of the back rest. When everybody finished, he continued.

"Okay. Don't make a sound and go look at them."

Everybody turned their cards over then frowned.

Mr. Aaron continued to talk. "You must have heard the start of a rumor about a two-person project. And yes, that is quite true. This is actually a practice for your research papers, except it's not going to be an essay. Now I want the reds and the blacks to split up. Reds to my right, blacks to my left."

The girls went to Mr. Aaron's right while the guys went to his left. Oliver and Jake were standing next to each other at the end of the guy's line near the door. Miley was standing in between Becca and Lilly in the middle of the girl's line.

"Now, reds will be picking a piece of paper from this box," he held up a three-by-five carton box, "The blacks will be picking from this can." He held up an empty chocolate wafer tin can. "When I call your suit and character, please come forward and pick."

He put the can on a desk towards the blacks and the box towards the reds.

"Queen of Diamonds, and Three of Clubs."

Becca and a kid with glasses went up. They were about to read the papers when they were interrupted with an, "Oh, don't look at them yet."

Everybody rolled their eyes.

Eventually, everybody but Miley and this nerdy kid got up to get their papers.

"Ah yes, the Queen of Hearts and Ten of Spades."

Miley ambled her way up and got the last piece of paper in the carton.

"Now that everybody got one, you can open them."

Everybody opened and read them.

"Now I want to see if you guys can mix these authors and titles correctly. When I call upon the black suits, just say the title of the book you'll be working on, and those who think they know the author of the book can raise their hands and vice versa when I call upon the red suits. That said… Let's start with the King of Spades."

A kid with a blue shirt on said, "_Lord of the Flies_."

A girl with pigtails and black-framed glasses raised her hand. Since nobody else had their arm up, Mr. Aaron beckoned for her to answer. "William Golding."

"Correct, so who has Golding?" Another girl raised her hand. "Okay, Miss Afferbach, please sit down right next to Mr. Steins. Oh and yes, for the duration of this project, if you sit far away from your partner, you shall be moved accordingly. Next, Five of Diamonds."

The girl standing on Becca's other side said, "Herman Melville."

The class chorused, "_Moby Dick_." They read that in 7th grade.

Mr. Aaron said, "True, but that's not the title I included for this project."

The same girl who answered the previous question raised her hand again.

"Yes Sarah?"

"_Billy Budd, Sailor_."

"Correct. Who has it?"

Dandruff Danny raised his hand. "Okay, Miss Cosgrove, since you sit in front of Mr. Winkler, just please turn your seat around to face him and sit down. Next, Jack of Clubs."

Oliver spoke up, "Charles Dickens."

Becca smiled as she raised her hand.

"Miss Weller?"

"_David Copperfield_."

"Right on. Please take your seats."

Since they sat right next to each other (come on, is there any other way?), they didn't need to do anything else.

"Jack of Hearts?"

Lilly said, "My paper is a blank, Mr. Aaron."

"Ahh. Anonymous. This story you're going to be doing, Miss Trustcott, has been penned from oral tradition. Any guesses as to what this story is?"

Jake raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Ryan?"

"_Beowulf_."

"Quite right, Mr. Ryan. May I assume that you know this because of the hint in the slip of paper you drew?"

"Actually, no – you may not. It's my mom's favorite book. She read it to me when I was a kid. Then I would read it occasionally in my spare time when I learned how to read. In the copy she gave me, they noted that it was passed down through word of mouth before a monk finally wrote it out."

Mr. Aaron applauded him for the first time without sarcasm. "That's correct. Now, who has Beowulf?"

Henry raised his hand.

"Mr. Smith, Miss Truscott, please take your seats." Henry, it turned out, sat in front of Lilly. "Next on the list, Ace of Spades."

Jake stepped up. "Jane Austen."

Miley's head whipped towards him so fast that she almost had a whiplash.

Mr. Aaron noticed. "Miss Stewart, would you care to read off the title of the book you and Mr. Ryan will be doing for this project?"

Lilly was about to say something when Becca waved at her so she wouldn't say anything. Becca already had a hand on Oliver's mouth. They didn't need to get into trouble.

Miley sighed. Out of all the people in this room, why did she have to work with the Ego Maniac? And what on earth was he smiling about? Glaring at Jake, she announced, "_Pride and Prejudice_," to the entire class.

Mr. Aaron asked them to sit down and asked her to turn her seat around. She did so violently, staring daggers at Jake who was still smiling.

Finally, everybody got their partners and Mr. Aaron started giving the packets out. He gave one to each group. "Read it and weep, ladies and gents. This project will count for 70 of your grades this marking period and as such you'll have until November 23rd to do this. It's only October 2. The tear fest shouldn't start now. If you have any questions, you can ask them – but I believe I've written the directions and required components of the assignment in the packets I'm giving you. And yes – you must work on this together; you can photocopy them but I will only accept the original packet when you submit this project to me. Okay – please, peruse the packet. I'll give you guys a couple of minutes for you to absorb the information. I know it's a lot to take in, my little honors chickadees."

Miley just skimmed through the packet. "I can't believe this."

Jake asked for the packet with his hand. "Oh come on. It can't be that bad."

She almost chucked it at him. She didn't want this. It not only cut into her Miley time a lot, but she would have to ask him over (she refused to go to his house) to work on it. This sucked big time!

He was gingerly looking at each page. There was a scholarly frown that actually on his forehead. You know, that one you get when you feel like getting a migraine from information overload? "Wow. Three hundred note cards and a two-to-three page outline? We need a diagram for a class presentation with a written report? This is a lot of work. You'll actually have to crash some of my Zombie High shoots if we need to get this done."

What? Did she hear him right? She almost gaped at him. He was still busy analyzing the project. "You know, you might want to stop thinking – I can see smoke coming out of your ears."

Jake looked up, made a face at her before giving her a disarming smile. "Okay. Well, I think we should make a list… like a plan of what we should do first. We could split some of the tasks up, like taking notes and personal observations." He pointed at the page he was reading on, "You know, he said we can have a debate as our class presentation. One could be the plaintiff and the other the defendant; the class will be the jury and Mr. Aaron would be the judge. Whoever wins gets an A+ automatically and the loser gets a grade based on his or her written materials."

Miley took the packet back from him. Okay, maybe it was the smile – but he actually cared about the grade rather than working with her about this. Maybe she should drop the animosity until he hits on her. "But there has to be a minimum of eighteen evidences."

He leaned back in his chair and stretched. Okay… he was pretty built for a fourteen-year-old… stop it Miley! Focus! He said, "That just means that anybody who planned to read Spark Notes or Cliff Notes won't get a good grade. Mr. Aaron actually wants us to exhaust every little detail that the author might have missed. He wants us to pick an area where we can attack/defend Austen's book and quote the text to justify what we say."

She said, "We need other sources."

"Not a problem – I have a bunch of books at my house… my mom's an English professor at Stanford. I can bring some to school or over to your house."

"Wait, what makes you think I want you over my house?"

"Because I know you won't come over my house. And we do need to work on this at some place that's not in school."

"We can meet at library."

"Come on, Miley – we both know if we go to the library we wouldn't get a thing done."

Drat. He got her there. "Fine. You can come over my house."

Mr. Aaron chose to speak up. "Okay, enough about the project, people. Time to talk about Romeo and Juliet."

Miley turned her seat back around to face the board. Then she felt Jake lean over her shoulder and whisper, "Fine. I'm really not a bad guy, but I won't push you to get to know me when you don't want to. Let me know when you want to work on this project. But I promise you – if you show one ounce of interest in getting to know me beyond my façade, you'll like me." Then she felt him move away.

Great. Now she felt like the bad guy. She stifled a groan at his display of self-esteem and tried to focus on the lesson.

She regretted getting into Honors English.


	2. That Thin Line is NOT a River in Egypt

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one for more information. 

AN: Popular or not, this is actually my FAVE story... I'm glad for those who read the first chapter and reviewed; I'm glad that I'm not the only one who liked this story. Sorry for the lateness; had to study for my penultimate chemistry exam, two anatomy exams, write my English final and try to figure out what parabola meant. Oh, and try to write all of my stories as evenly as possible for quicker updates.

WARNING: I don't want any complaints about the element I'm introducing in this chapter. I actually had to do this in eighth grade. Maybe I exaggerated about the difficulty of the second project; but it's similar.

Dedicated to: **RJBComputer**. Dude, sorry about not updating this one sooner. :-D Hope you liked it. Thanks for waiting patiently. I hope it was worth the wait. The juice... is not till later; unfortunately.

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**The English Project**

** Chapter Two: That Thin Line is NOT A River in Egypt**

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Lilly said as they exited English later on. "That was some class, huh!? I can't believe I actually asked to be in the honors track for English." 

Miley scoffed, "Oh please, you have Henry as a partner - he's been getting A+'s in every class. And he's Henry, the one who went to Shakespeare camp three summers in a row! I'd rather pair up with him than that Ego Maniac any day!"

They were walking to Lilly's locker to get their gym bags. "Oh please, the boy is pretty good in English - it's his best class. You gotta admit that, even if he's a celebrity."

"It doesn't matter! I don't want to work with him. He's frustrating, and annoying, and he's so obnoxious."

"You know, you're starting to sound like a broken record! It's like you can't find any new material to say anything bad about him..." She trailed off, getting that look on her face when she has either thought of something really good, or need to go badly.

Becca and Oliver joined them. While he opened his locker and exchanged his stuff, she said, "You know Miley, if I didn't know any better - I'd say you're in denial about liking him."

Her boyfriend looked at her weird as Lilly clapped her hands while head checking her locker door closed.

Miley rolled her eyes, "Guys, come on. I don't like Jake Ryan!"

Oliver's eyes widened then said, "Oh my God, you do!" He closed his locker and they started walking toward Becca's locker.

"Do not!"

Lilly joined Oliver. "Do too!!"

"Do not."

All three said, "Do too!!!"

Becca closed her locker and they started to go to gym.

"Do... okay, you donuts, why on earth you guys think that I like Jake Ryan?"

Oliver said, "Because, you can see him for his bad and good qualities."

"I fail to see the analogy."

Then Becca said, "You're not falling all over him, and you're not blinded by his stardom - but I know you think he can be nice and sweet AND you like him for that."

"Still not getting the point!"

They arrived at the area where they have to split to go into the right locker rooms.

Finally, Lilly said, "I can give you a couple more reasons that these two haven't given you... since you don't seem to get it at all. You say you don't like him because he annoys you - but he gets under your skin like nobody, not Johnny Collins or Josh the ninth grader when we were in eighth grade, has ever done before! That's one. Speaking of him, before you crushed on Johnny Collins - you thought he was obnoxious too, until he said that you looked cute when you put your hair up in curly pigtails!"

Miley tried to say something but Lilly barelled onward.

"You don't really know Jake right now - but you gave him a chance at the beach last week. And he said you were cute; which I know you liked even if you said you didn't care. That's two. And, aside from him being like you-know-what..." She meant the Hannah Montana secret, which Miley understood, "He easily fits the description of you dream guy in your blue diary that you've been keeping under your floor boards in you-know-where! And that's three."

Miley gasped. "No, he doesn't! You guys are insane. And he doesn't fit my Perfect Guy's description!"

Lilly looked at Oliver and Becca. "Okay. Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves - since you're probably rejecting the idea right now. But when you finally realize this; we'll say that we told you so!"

A whistle sounded. "Get to class!" It was Coach Lewis, their gym teacher.

They scrambled to their respective destinations.

* * *

...

* * *

"I'm telling you, there is no way I do or will ever like Jake Ryan!" Miley told Lilly and Becca as they made their way to the gym later. They refrained from talking in the girl's locker room because of Amber and Ashley. 

"Maybe you really don't now - but you will later!" Lilly said.

"He's not even a decent human being!"

Becca shook her head, "You only think that because you haven't been trying to get to know him. He's not bad; if he could actually laugh at Oliver's 'Yo Mama' jokes. he's definitely not as bad as you are making him out to be."

"He's an actor! Of course, he can laugh at ANY joke!"

They sat in their assigned seats and started stretching.

"I'm telling you Miley, just wait and see. You're treading carefully on the thin line between love and hate!"

"Lilly, we're not a movie or a story."

They heard a whistle and paid attention to Coach Lewis. "Okay, we're covering dance this unit." The girls cheered while the boys groaned. "But I will be picking your partners for you and there will be no switching!"

The girls groaned, while the guys made sarcastic cheers. The girls wanted Jake (or have the ability to pick partners; like Becca - who wanted Oliver)... and the guys weren't really thrilled to have this unit; but were at least sure that they will be having partners.

"Oh come on you guys!" The perky gym teacher and cheerleading coach said. "It's only for a couple of weeks!"

Everybody surrendered to the torture.

"Alright, when I call your names I want you to pair up and start talking. Each of you will be getting a particular style to work on; and by the end of this unit - I expect you to choreograph a dance routine that includes that style with your partners. The routine doesn't have to be the entire dance."

Coach Lewis called out a bunch of names, and after time passed only three people remained.

"Becca Weller and Oliver Oken. Tango." Upon which Becca nearly squealed and Oliver looked strangely pleased. "And I expect to see a red rose in your final performance."

"Johnny Collins and Lilly Truscott. Swing." Upon which Lilly threw a suprised look at her shocked best girl friend.

"And Miley Stewart and Jake Ryan. Waltz or any variation of it."

Miley barely felt herself move to meet Jake.

He was smiling at her. "I guess we have to get together some time to work on this too. Hey, you ok?"

"I'm just wondering what I did to deserve this." She looked up to the ceiling, as if talking to the heavens. But Jake didn't get that.

"Oooookay. This is actually going to be easier, because I can ask one of the fight choreographers from _Zombie High_ to do me a favor and teach us this dance and give us a routine. But I definitely have to bring you to the set for that. Are you free today, after school?"

Resigned, Miley just said, "Yeah. Sure."

"You know, girls would kill to be in your spot right now."

"Great. Could they kill me now?"

* * *

...

* * *

"Well, who woulda thunk it?" Lilly asked with a smile as they made their way to their lockers. "You and Jake get partnered up again." 

Becca chipped in, "I think this is Fate tryin' to tell you something."

Oliver was busy sneaking in a chocolate muffin in his mouth.

Miley took the chance to slam her head into the nearest wall.

"Hey, hey - none of that now!" The two girls tried to pry her away from the hard surface.

"Will Miley Stewart please come to the Central Office?" Someone on the P.A. system announced. "I repeat. Will Miley Stewart please come to the Central Office?"

She smiled. There was only one reason why someone needed to go to the Central Office. She's got a Hannah thing to go to, no matter how sudden it was, and her dad was picking her up. "Okay, Lilly - I was supposed to meet up with Jake after school; but I gotta go to the doctor." She winked, and Lilly winked back.

"Okay. I'll take notes for you."

Becca said, "You keep getting out of class early for a doctor's appointment, like once a week since school started. Are you okay, Miley?"

"The doctors are making sure I'm fine." She felt guilty. One of these days, she won't have to lie to anyone anymore... but that day is not for a loooong while; if she had anything to say about it.

"Well, I hope you feel better. I'll go get your English stuff; you need them right?"

Miley said, "Thanks!" As the other girl went to the locker with Oliver. Then she turned to Lilly. "It's so hard not to just spill the truth to her. I mean, I get a little freaked out when i'm using her locker because..." She trailed off, "you know."

"Well, you have two choices - either you tell her or you don't. Kinda like you did with me and Oliver." Lilly put her stuff back in her locker, while Miley opened Oliver's.

"Yeah, but if I tell one more person it's kind of like telling the world."

"It's not like telling the world. You're starting to consider her as one of your friends."

Miley pursed her lips. "That's true." Out of the corner of her eye, Becca and oliver started to come back so she whispered, "Well, I'll definitely text you or call you later with the deets."

"Okay, I'll be waiting!"

* * *

...

* * *

Miley got out of her limo, still in shock. Her dad had just explained why they were heading for the Dinsey Channel studios in Burbank. She was meeting the producers of _Zombie High_, who had specifically requested for her to be a guest star in an episode for the show.

She was going to be working with Jake... AGAIN!

This cannot be happening to her!

Maybe she didn't even have to work with him directly.

OH, WHO WAS SHE KIDDING? Everything in _Zombie High_ was his centered around his character!

She automatically pasted a smile on her face as she met and greeted the producers. She was about to decline the position when she saw how much money was involved. For ONE episode of the show.

Okay, one look from her father told her to pick up the pen and sign the contract. Which she immediately did. She'd be insane not to build up funds for her savings account or something. She could easily take twenty-five percent of her paycheck (with the tax deduction) and buy three iPod Nano's with 1 GB (to give to herself, Oliver and Lilly) and have more to go for a shopping spree at The Gap. With this money - she could donate a good amount to five different charities and still have enough to survive up to seven years of college - at ANY school she wished to go to.

She later heard she was earning almost as much as Jake Ryan was earning for each episode of the show.

Funny. He never once boasted as much about his wealth. He was rather down-to-earth about that. Sure, he made up lousy jokes, and accepted the attention his peers gave him but he never once displayed how well off he was. He never blatantly showed off the latest things he could get with this kind of money... for EACH episode!

There was something else to be said about Jake Ryan after all.

Maybe she judged him too harshly.

But that doesn't mean she liked him, or she was going to fall for him. No way, no how.

"Oh, and Miss Montana? You'll be getting the script tomorrow. We weren't sure if you were going to take the role, so unfortunately we didn't make a copy for you today. Do you have any other questions for me?"

"Would you tell me what the episode is about?" Hannah asked. "The gist of it would be fine. I just want to know what kind of character I'm going to be playing."

The producer, let's just call him Bob... well Bob cleared his throat nervously. "Actually, to be honest; I haven't looked at the script myself. Confidentiality issues that the writer is insistent about - the only one who knows what the episode entails is him and Jake; everybody else (except you) gets the script just a day or two before the shoot. The only thing he told me about it is that it revolves around a prophecy about good triumphing over evil. But you, my dear; will be playing Zeronda, Princess of the Undead."

Miley smiled. Good. They were enemies in this episode. That wasn't so bad.


	3. I'm Under Your Spell

Disclaimer: PLEASE STOP THE TORTURE! I DON'T OWN HANNAH MONTANA!!!

AN. I'm speechless. Thanks to all!

Without further ado, Cupid's Bride brings you:

**The English Project**

**Chapter 3: I'm Under Your Spell…**

Miley groaned and hit her head against the wall. Well. Mentally, anyway. Miley was Hannah at the moment, so she couldn't do it.

Hannah had a fake smile frozen on her face as she removed some of her clothes. She thought back to what happened no more than fifteen minutes ago when a staff member rushed into the room with a copy of the episode's script and Jake Ryan in tow.

_"I got it!" The guy exclaimed. "I finally fixed the copy machine!"_

_Bob chuckled sheepishly when Mr. Montana and her father looked at him. "I didn't want to say that we were having technical difficulties. This is John Harris, he's one of our show's writers. He is especially involved with this episode. And this is our star, Jake Ryan."_

_Jake smiled, removing his eyes from the script and raising them to the guests. "How do you do?"_

_They all shook hands as they exchanged pleasantries. After the formalities were over, Jake went back to reading and John gave Hannah her copy. "If I may?" He looked at Bob, who nodded. "Miss Montana, normally we would mail you the script, but we thought you could take a look at it now and have a screen test with Jake here." He smacked Jake's shoulder who winced as he perused his script. Well, at least she thought he winced since he had almost no expression on his face._

_A big booming voice came from behind her and she turned around with a polite smile._

_"Hi! I'm Roger, your director. Big fan! Big fan! My dear, you look absolutely dazzling; but that won't do!"_

_Hannah's smile slowly slipped from her face but returned when Jake said, "What are you talking about Roger? She looks perfectly fine to me."_

_With a small wave, the eccentric director said, "Oh don't get me wrong; you're both attractive individuals and make a wonderfully attractive couple. But, the look is all wrong… she needs to be… dead!"_

_Eyebrows shot up. Well, those who haven't read the script, anyway._

_"Oh, don't look at me like that. I just read the script, and I must admit that this has to be the best twist in this show yet."_

_Immediately, Hannah went through her copy._

_She's playing the Zombie Princess, who's also Wilfred's love interest. Dang flabit!_

_"Alright, so shall we proceed?" Roger was not aware of Zeronda's ire, or the Zombie Slayer's discomfort._

And so here was Hannah, with her jacket removed, as well as her Cowboy Boots. Since she had to get in character as much as possible, she had to remove her trademark clothing so she would be seen as an actress, not Hannah Montana; and as such, she was simply dressed in jeans and a shirt and was barefooted. 

When she finished meditating to get into character , she called out to the crew.

"Okay, I'm ready."

And so Roger called out, **"Hannah Montana, Test Screen for Forest Scene. Action!"**

Zeronda was in the middle of a forest. She was told by her father that the Slayer spent his extra time in these woods to train. She was ordered to take him out of the picture. He had killed enough of her brethren and must perish for his crimes! Though she really couldn't have cared less, since she felt nothing for her father's incompetent loyal subjects, she went on anyway and sought him out. So here she was, trekking through the Slayer's Forest.

Pity she never saw the root of an Oak that protruded from the earth and tripped.

Resisting the urge to curse her misfortune, Zeronda settled for a groan and braced herself for the impact she knew would come with her fall.

But it never came.

Two strong arms wrapped around her and she melted at the sight of warm, caring, azure eyes.

They didn't know how long they stayed like that, but the wind blew around them, lifting the leaves that fell from the trees and surrounded them, as if covering them. There was no other word to describe the scene, it was simply magical.

Just as there was no other word to describe the inexplicable connection between the princess and her rescuer.

Suddenly, a howl reverberated throughout the forest and both were snapped to their senses.

The wind kept shielding them from view as the young man spoke as he helped her regain balance.

"What brings you to the Dark Woods, Miss? It's dangerous out here."

Normally, a zombie never felt anything. They were apathetic creatures who sought out living people to turn them into the undead. The way they suck the life out of people lets them feel how it is to be alive once more, even for just a moment. And so, they do what they could to grab a hold of a human, and Turn them.

Zeronda wasn't exactly a human being in the first place. She was a special, even by zombie standards. She was the offspring of two of the oldest living zombies on the planet, and took nearly a millennium to be born.

Normally, a zombie keeled as they walked. It was slow and had almost no reflexes, though the oldest of zombies; who had been able to turn quite an amount of people and lived for more than two centuries were quick and… well, pretty deadly… as long as they didn't fall apart with a quick tug to their limbs or anything. But a zombie also needed to Turn humans in order to live. Once or twice would enable them to live for a five years, but many were greedy from the rush they get from the Transformation.

The Zombie Princess never had to take a human life to live. She was self-sustained, and could feast upon normal human foods. Basically, it was as if she was human, only she looked as Undead as the others. It would take a little more than a tug, but yeah; any part of her body would fall off. She never knew how it felt to have lived, and so she didn't long to feel alive - therefore she wouldn't ever need to Turn anyone. She was merely a fetus when her mother was Turned. Her mother had a difficult pregnancy, lasting for a little over nine centuries.

She was conceived in the late 10th Century, and was born the year the current Slayer was born though her birthday was exactly a half year apart from his.

In Zombie Lore, only she could bring the current Slayer down and end the Calling (you know, so that a new Slayer would come forth) so her brethren could continue to feast upon human life. Their birthdays made sure of that; as it was according to the prophecy.

_Conceived a millennia apart,_

_But born in the same year;_

_One in the Summer when the sun is at its highest,_

_The other during a cold night of the Winter Soltice._

_One shall bring Light to the world,_

_The other, Dark;_

_But when a battle between the two occurs,_

_Only one shall prevail._

_And the End of the World would be at hand._

_That is, if the Dark One stands._

Well, that was what it said. So basically, it's her job to kill this guy here and now.

Only, she felt like she couldn't.

"I don't know." She finally said, her voice soft but firm. She stared straight into his eyes, her own orbs glowing. "But you should forget I was ever here, Slayer." She put her hands to his head, and willed his memory gone.

He stayed upright, and before he could open his eyes; she sank into the ground. The leaves stopped swirling and the wind died instantly.

Wilfred snapped out of his trance and looked around. "How am I supposed to train when that mutt isn't around? Where is that dog?"

**"Cut!"**

Immediately, Jake reached a hand to help Miley stand up from where she sat. "Great job!"

"Thanks! You did a great job, too." They smiled at each other, and for a moment, Miley forgot her animosity towards him. She even forgot that her hand and his were still joined.

"Well, don't you guys look cute together." Robby Ray commented as he went up to them.

Hannah blushed and Jake quickly let go of her hand.

Roger quipped, "Yes, they make a cute couple. I think the writers are now convinced that you're perfect for this role. Great job, my little chickadees. And I'll see the both of you this weekend! Ta ta!"

Both Jake and Hannah went red from everybody's observation about the both of them being a couple. For Jake's part, this was the first time he was linked to a female star.

For Hannah, well… we all know why, don't we?

Jake cleared his throat, "How do you like the script so far?" His blush had faded to nothing by this point, leaving clear, unblemished skin.

Hannah, wasn't quite fortunate. She was still pretty in pink. But she didn't let that stop her from answering him, "Well, to be honest; I didn't expect the show to have this much depth."

He smirked as she slapped a hand to her mouth with a muffled, "I didn't meant to say that."

Jake reassured her, "It's okay. I know what you mean. Actually, this episode is the season finale. After this episode, the Zombie Slayer is growing up faster; the writers explained to me that they were trying to increase the show's level of intelligence."

"So do you actually know what happens in this episode?" She held up the script. "I actually didn't finish reading it over."

"I think you should find out yourself."

"Please, just tell me. I've had one too many surprises today to last me a lifetime."

Jake took a deep breath, "Well, I really think that you should find out what really happens when you read it yourself. It'll let you connect with Zeronda more if you find out what happens from your own perspective by reading the script. I can tell you though, that the ending is a little bit, open-ended. It's by no means a cliffhanger… but it's very vague that it actually leaves room for editing even as we film the entire episode. So if anybody has a problem with it, it could possibly be changed."

Hannah raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'if anybody has a problem with it, it could possibly be changed.'"

Jake sighed, "Promise you won't spill about this to anyone?"

She nodded.

"All guest stars on this show has had a problem with the script. It's partially the reason why you never see the same character show up for more than one episode. Although, if one does have a significant role, he is brought back once or twice in a later episode. But they really try to come up with new characters to serve the same purpose - it's the reason why the show is always so shallow."

"You think I'm going to be a diva guest star like those donuts you've worked with in the past?"

He shrugged. "I'd like to say that I don't think you're like that, but I can never really tell. Although, the fact that I did tell you about one of the primary reasons why the show is such a slapstick production gone wrong - well, I guess 'cause you remind me of this girl from school that I…." He slowly smiled then, a goofy look creeping on his face, but then stopped and switched topics quickly. "But I really hope you don't find anything wrong with the script. I think, if you really gave it a chance, you're going to like it."

Miley noticed the change of subject. She saw his eyes bug out and was surprised when he slapped his forehead. Oh, she's not going to let him get away with this. "Wait, back up. Who's this girl at school?" Hannah adopted a gossip girl stance and tried to get her co-star to crack and spill the beans. 

Jake sighed, clearly giving in before the goofy smile came back. "Her name is Miley, and I like her."

Well, she never expected that answer.


End file.
